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Kansas City Southern Is Open To Talking With Rival Bidder CN

By  |  April 25, 2021

Canadian Pacific Railway on Saturday, April 24, welcomed a favorable regulatory decision related to its proposed merger with Kansas City Southern, on the same day that Kansas City said its board has determined that a competing offer from Canadian National Railway (CN) could be expected to lead to a “superior proposal.”

Kansas City Southern stated the board made its determination unanimously and stated it would open negotiations with Canadian National, although it remains “bound by the terms of the CP merger agreement.” It noted that its board “has not determined” that the CN proposal “in fact constitutes a Company Superior Proposal.”

Canadian Pacific’s US$25 billion cash-and-stock offer, at the time the deal was announced in March, values Kansas City Southern at US$275 per share.

Canadian National’s rival cash-and-stock offer, made earlier this week, values Kansas City Southern at US$325 a share.

Canadian Pacific on Saturday touted a ruling by the US Surface Transportation Board, which oversees freight rail, that a waiver of stricter rules governing mergers granted to Kansas City Southern in 2001 would be applicable to a merger of Kansas City and Canadian Pacific.

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